Monday, December 30, 2013

like a record baby right round round round...ok, are you singing along to Dead or Alive now? haha It occurred to me that I have never properly introduced my 7 Gypsies ATC spinner to you guys! Also it has been over a year since I added to my spinner (hanging my head in shame) so I thought this would be a great post to share with you. This is a picture of the 7 Gypsies ATC Spinner without any cards on it

For my first card I cut out some paper from the "Messy Head" collection in the shape of the 7 Gypsies ATC card and then glued it onto the card.

I also have the handy dandy 7 Gypsies tool that cuts the notches out that you need in order to put the cards onto the spinner, which is handy if you want to make your own cards instead of using their pre-cut cards, which I like to do sometimes!

Then I stamped the Make a wish stamp onto another paper from the "Messy Head" collection and sprayed with some glimmer mist

and you know me, I'm famous for getting all caught up into the making of the art and forgetting to take all the pictures, so now my next picture is of the finished ATC in all it's glory on the spinner! I love this Blowing dandelion and extra seed stamp so much, it's so delicate and gorgeous and the 7 Dots Studio paper really complements it with the text background!

This next ATC was made using the 7 Dots Studio "Messy Head" as well as the "Love is in the air" paper line and the Man and woman symbol

and last but not least I did another short tutorial on how I made this ATC using papers from the 7 Dots Studio "Messy Head" and "Love is in the air" collections. First I cut a piece of paper from the "Messy Head" collection and glued it onto a piece from the "Love is in the air" collection and stamped the Worn clockface stamp onto the text background

I had a fabulous acetate clock overlay from 7 Gypsies and I thought it would look really cool if I placed it over top of this stamped image, but first I wanted to color in a portion of the clock using the gorgeous Sakura Gelly Roll Stardust pens

and then I put a rhinestone on the overlay and stapled it on and here is the card on my spinner

I hope you all enjoyed seeing my ATC spinner and I was happy to have added some more cards to it because I will admit it was woefully neglected!! haha

Friday, December 27, 2013

Hi Hermine here, last post for 2013! How time flies. I made this art card holder, which was a present from a friend.

step 1: Glue the box together, give it a layer of gesso, inside as well as the outside, Then put on a layer of silver acryllic paint, dry with the heattool, causing the paint to bubble. Then take some black M'xed Media Ink and sponge the whole box. Whipe the excess of with a baby whipe so you get the aged silver look.
step 2: Stamp the text You are here 19178 on one of the sides and stamp the washi grid background 19074 on the front and to the sides using Stazon jet Black. Glue the metall corners on with miracle tape.
step 3: Make all the cards, I did each and everyone by hand. I decorated the first one using the tekst With Love 19302 and City on snail 18975, stamping with Stazon Jet Black and coloured in with Lyra crayons and a waterbrush.

And voila ready and set to use. Imagine how it will look like when all the cards where decorated and the whole box was filled with little art works from all over the world. That would be awesome, wouldn't it. Wishing you a great turn of the year and a very creative 2014.

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Hello, Nataliya is here & VERY MERRY to all :)
Today I want to show my new page from Wall Notebook. This is the story about beauty what can be found in unexpected places. The main thing is to try to see it.

The dancing girl on a trash can, have a chance to see something unusual behind the closed door.

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

It's Amy today, to share a tag I made with a Victorian Steampunk theme. I came across this fun technique for creating a "faded" look, and gave it a whirl, and with some of my favorite Viva Las VegaStamps! I ended up with something pretty, unique, and (for me) thought provoking.

When the stamping was complete, I added a vintage Victorian image of a
woman, using Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft gel medium on both sides.

Next, before the gel dried, I gently rubbed my finger (dipped in water) over the edges of the paper, leaving the stamped image behind, and a worn look to the photo.

The result allows the shadow of the man behind the worn clockface, to appear over the woman's shoulder.

To add even more drama to the tag, I colored on the vintage tricycle stamp using Faber-Castell big brush pens in black and cold gray, in a gradient,for a very transparent look and fussy cut the image after watercoloring; and finally applying it to the right top corner of the tag, using foam adhesive. I build around this using chipboard gears from UmWowStudio, a prima flower, various metal embellishments, and lace trim from Gauche Alchemy.

Finally,to complete the tag, for the bottom left corner, I punched using a Fiskars notebook paper punch, for a bit of different texture and interest. I stamped the man fromPlate 945 onto a separate card, using Archival Ink by Ranger, in Coffee. I fussy cut him out, and added him flush with the bottom of the tag, embellishing with trims, more chipboard gears, and a Prima flower.
I think it is fun to guess what is going on between all of the people on this tag. Who is the Victorian woman musing about, each of the men in her past lives (or current?) that enjoy top hats and steampunk wear? Are the men thinking of her? Ah, it's a sentimental adventure. Hehe.
~Amy

Lately, I've been playing around with creation from destruction, taking artwork or practice work, destroying it by covering most of it up, and then creating something new. My finished piece started out like this. A practice chart I made in a sketchbook using Gelato water-soluble sticks, to see how the colors graduated.

To start the transformation, I used Stampers Big Brush pens to blend the stripes and add some grunge. Stampers Big Brush pens are India Ink, not blenders, but the Ivory color is very light and the pens are wet enough to activate the water-soluble qualities of the gelatos, just enough for blending.

The third step was to stamp the images. The joy of Zentangle-inspired stamps is that you can add a touch of Zentangle without drawing the tangles and then covering most of them up. For that same reason, I didn't worry about getting a perfectly stamped image. Zeta paper is good for stamping, but the curve of the book can get in the way. No problem, in this case.

Recently, I've been playing around with glue guns, using the glue to create texture in a method I learned from Contadina K. I melted glue sticks, covering most of the page with see-through strands. I let it sit for about 1/2 hour and then coated it with a layer of transparent gesso. I didn't completely cover the glue strands, so that any paint I added would have a slightly different appearance in some places.

After the gesso was dry (I let it sit for a day so both it and the glue would be fully cured), I used the same gelato colors as were used in the original stripes and rubbed the colors in at random, using my finger. Then acrylic paints were added, the gold iridescent worked into some areas between the glue, and the metallic peridot was painted on top of the glue streaks.

It's difficult to show in a photo or scan, but the iridescent gold adds a sheen that changes in the light. If you hold the page a certain way, the stamped zentangle images almost disappear. If you tilt the book, you can see them almost completely. Hints of the original striped colors show as well.

So long all! I hope you've enjoyed my last project for VLVS! I'll miss being part of the design team fun, but I hope I'll see most of you around on my blog, or Facebook, or Twitter.

Don't forget to check out the VLVS! November Challenge for a chance to win (plus it's fun!).

With a brayer, I gently rolled to blend the colors to create an "ombré" effect. Pretty simple, right?

The great thing about this AMAZING No-Gelatin Printing Plate, is I made it to a size of my preference {this one is approx. 6" x 7"} perfect for art journaling and altered book pages. I have several other sizes AND SHAPES as well. I aligned it to my recycled day planner, now Christmas Holiday Travelogue; with darkest color at top and pressed directly to page.

I flipped it over and rubbed it down, then gently peeled back revealing the beautiful perfect gradation from dusky blue to creme. Now to make another ombré to fill the bottom half of the page.

I prepared my AMAZING No-Gelatin Printing Plate again with Ranger Distress Paint; this time Antique Linen, Bundled Sage and Forest Moss. I repeated the steps as before with brayer and applied with darkest green at the bottom of page.

Completed ombré on page. There is some texture to my green on the base because one of my paints gushed out all over the place when I went to add a little more of the mid range color. So between pix - I made up some additional monoprints with all the overspilled paint.

I stamped with Stone Grey StazOn on vellum cardstock, then painted Ranger Snow Cap Adirondack Acrylic paint to the backside to make the paper more opaque.

No stamping project is complete without some good old fashioned "fussy cutting".

After trimming out the polaroid centers, I brushed the edges with a few chalk inks. Then I layered the frames and mounted to my postcard using Miracle Tape. Once affixed - the frames get one final trim out to leave me two faux layered polaroids containing one continuous photo.

Using the Stone Grey StazOn I stamped a variety of Parisienne themed images and some script {all listed below} to form a collage; and added a few strips of my DIY Miracle Tissue Tape {CLICK HERE for details} as a base to ground my photos upon. It only took 13+ years - but now this trip is properly documented with a perfect painted sky to tie it all together :)

Thanks so much for dropping by. Have you visited the VLVS! Online Store lately... it's PRE-ORDER time!!! Also there is the December inspiration challenge. Just make a creation using the inspiration above and your stash of VLVS! stamps... you could win more RUBBER! CLICK HERE for challenge details. Also, you definitely want to subscribe to the blog feed and to the Viva Las VegaStamps! newsletter to be IN THE KNOW of everything going on at the Viva Las Vegastamps! store. There's so much amazing inky inspiration to see!

If you would like to see more of my creations please visit my blog, sbartist : painting in the dark HERE. I wish all of you a very Happy Holidays and a very Merry New Year in 2014!! Sb